Taking a Chance on Love

by Iris Morland

  “Unlike you rich people, wasting food isn’t something I do. It’ll only take me a few minutes.”

  Anthony waited, tapping his foot with impatience as the minutes passed. He got a text from Danny. I’m in a clearing about a half mile from the cabin. Are you coming?

  Anthony replied to the text with a curt affirmative. He was about to drag Thea from the kitchen when she finally came out with a bag of food. He took it from her before they finally headed out.

  Silence reigned between them as they walked to the clearing. When Anthony realized that Thea was struggling to keep up with him, he shortened his strides. When she shot him an annoyed look, he ignored it.

  Guilt gnawed at him. He wanted to tell her he shouldn’t have ever touched her. He wanted to kiss her again, make her forget his harsh words. The temptation almost overwhelmed him when she stumbled a little, and he caught her just in time.

  “All right?” he asked, helping her up.

  Her hands were full of not only her suitcase, but the box carrying Sneaky. The rabbit had hidden away under multiple towels, probably terrified. He just hoped the towels were enough to muffle the sound of the helicopter.

  She pulled away from him. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”

  They didn’t say another word to each other until they arrived at the helicopter.

  The sound was deafening as they approached. Anthony helped Thea place her luggage and Sneaky inside before helping her up, climbing in beside her. Danny handed them both headsets. He yelled something that Anthony thought was a greeting.

  Finally, they lifted into the air. Thea was turned away from him, gazing out the window as she held Sneaky’s box in her lap. Anthony couldn’t help but study her profile, the way her short blond hair curled at the ends. She had a smudge of dirt on her cheek, which he longed to wipe away.

  His fingers curling into his palms, he stared straight ahead, telling himself that soon this would all be over. He would return to his life, and she would return to hers. They would never have to see each other again.

  That thought should have comforted him. But for some reason, it only depressed him.

  Thea stared out the helicopter window, her shoulders slumping progressively further as they got closer to their destination. Would Anthony drop her off in Seattle, and she’d have to drive home? At this point, she wouldn’t care if he dropped her off in New York City, as long as she got away from him.

  The space in the back of the helicopter was cramped, and more than once, Thea’s knee brushed his. The first time, she jerked away; the second time, he repositioned his legs so it wouldn’t happen again.

  Thea just hoped that this ride wouldn’t terrify Sneaky to death. She could just make out his nose twitching under the pile of towels. She said a little prayer that she could get him home and then to a rescue afterward.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Anthony rub the back of his neck. His beard had grown in, making him seem more like a pirate than ever. She couldn’t help but think about how he’d kissed her, the way his stubble had scraped at her cheeks and chin. How he’d touched her until she’d shattered in his arms.

  It was humiliating, how attracted to him she still was. She told herself that attraction didn’t have to go hand in hand with liking a person, but it was a small comfort. It made her feel weak and stupid. She wished she’d never met him in the first place.

  They landed in a field about an hour later. It took Thea a moment to realize that they hadn’t landed in Seattle, but on the outskirts of Fair Haven. Not far from the clearing were two cars waiting for them both. Thea saw one of the drivers get into the car in front, his face shaded by large sunglasses. She assumed that was the car Anthony would be riding in.

  After both Anthony and Thea got out of the helicopter, Anthony yelled something at Danny before Danny took off again. Thea watched the helicopter until it was only a speck in the sky.

  “You can use the rental car for however long it takes to get your car back,” explained Anthony as he helped her with her luggage.

  She placed Sneaky in the backseat and strapped him in for good measure. At Anthony’s amused look, she rolled her eyes.

  “Thanks,” she said grudgingly. “Are you driving back to Seattle?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then thanks for dropping me off near home.”

  Silence fell between them. It was strange, Thea thought, how they’d gotten so close yet there was this insurmountable wall between them now. Thea could almost convince herself the entire trip had been a bizarre nightmare that had, at times, become the sweetest of dreams.

  Anthony stretched out his hand. “Good luck with everything.”

  She was rather tempted to reject his handshake and stomp on his foot instead. But she took his hand, shaking it quickly before she dropped it.

  Anthony was about to open her car door for her, but Thea stopped him. “Washed-up artists can get their own car doors,” she said with a sarcastic smile.

  His eyes darkened, but he didn’t defend himself. Instead, after she’d climbed inside her car, he closed her car door with such a light touch that it only irritated Thea further.

  And then Thea was driving away, Anthony getting smaller and smaller in her rearview mirror, before disappearing entirely.

  She barely remembered arriving home. Focusing solely on Sneaky, she got the rabbit inside, finding a much larger box to set him in. She got him fresh water and food before she began to call rescues in the area. To her relief, one said they’d take him when they opened the next morning.

  After taking a long shower, she collapsed into bed, falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon and not waking until the sun had already set.

  14

  Anthony stared into his glass of beer before drinking the entire glass in one long gulp.

  “That bad, huh?” his good friend Carter Roberts asked with a grimace.

  A pro baseball player for the Seattle Falcons, Carter always had a posse of fans following him around wherever he went. Tonight was no different. He’d already taken at least five photos with people, and Anthony could see a group of girls ogling him at the table behind them. It would only be a few more minutes before they got the courage to approach one of the most famous baseball players in the country and one of the most eligible bachelors around.

  One of the girls, a brunette who was so tan that she looked orange, stepped up to their table with a giggle. “Are you Carter Roberts?” she asked breathlessly, like she didn’t already know the answer.

  Carter shot her a grin. “I am. But the more important question is: who are you?”

  The girl tittered. Anthony snorted and motioned at the waitress to bring him another beer.

  Carter and the girl—who was soon joined by her two friends—chatted, the girls mostly giggling. Finally, they took a group selfie and returned to their booth.

  Carter possessed easy good looks that made him seem like the ultimate American boy next door. It helped that he was one of the best pitchers in the league. Because of a shoulder injury, he hadn’t played this season, though, and Anthony knew Carter was itching to get back into the game. Carter tended to do stupid things when he was bored and stuck on the bench, a situation he hadn’t experienced since college.

  “Are you done yet?” said Anthony. “Because I’m feeling like a third wheel tonight.”

  “You’re always a third wheel. Besides, they’re just excited. They don’t mean any harm.”

  “Doesn’t make them less annoying.”

  Carter snorted. “This is why people hate you and like me.”

  Anthony couldn’t disagree with that assessment. Carter had always wanted to be loved, while Anthony had only wanted to be feared.

  They’d known each other since high school, and Carter had been the one person in Anthony’s life to stick by him through the years. They’d both lived in the same dorm in college with Ryan Weaver, and after the Ryan and Elise thing, Carter had stuck by Anthony.

  Anthony still didn’t underst
and why Carter had stayed friends with him, though. It wasn’t as if Anthony was a good friend. Maybe it was just stubbornness on Carter’s part. Or a stupid kind of loyalty that Anthony would never fully understand.

  But they’d been friends since Carter had decided that Anthony should be a part of his cool kids clique when Anthony had preferred his own company. Carter was one of those people who didn’t take no for an answer when he decided you were going to be in his life.

  “People liking me hasn’t gotten me to where I am now,” said Anthony prosaically.

  “Well, if your goal was to be disliked, you’ve definitely accomplished it. How many of your board members want your head on a platter now?”

  Anthony smiled grimly. “Only one, officially. And it’s only because of Ryan.”

  Carter was one of the few people who knew what had really happened between Anthony and Elise. He shook his head. “I wouldn’t trade places with you for all the money in the world.”

  When Carter had texted him to get drinks, Anthony had almost declined because he knew Carter would want to hear about his disastrous vacation-turned-nightmare. It had been two weeks since he’d returned home, and during that entire time, he hadn’t been able to get Thea out of his head.

  He saw her on the streets of Seattle. Once, he’d seen a woman with short blond hair and had almost called Thea’s name, only to realize the woman wasn’t Thea at all. He saw her when he passed by the seemingly endless array of vegan restaurants downtown. When Cara mentioned that she was thinking of getting a pet rabbit, he was almost convinced there was some conspiracy to keep him from forgetting Thea.

  Would he never forget about the damn woman? He didn’t need this distraction, to say the least. He hadn’t been this obsessed with a woman since Elise, and even then, he’d focused more on building his company to impress Elise than he had thought about Elise herself.

  “At least I’m not fawned over wherever I go.” Anthony scowled when another group of girls noticed Carter as they came into the bar. “Can you tell them to calm down?”

  Carter shrugged. “They mean well. And the ones who really mean well are great to have around, if you know what I mean.” Carter’s expression sobered. “So, you still haven’t told me all about this cabin excursion turned horror movie. I’m surprised you made it out alive.”

  “Not as surprised as I am.” Anthony took a long drink of his third beer that night. He exhaled slowly. “I basically got stuck in a cabin with the most obnoxious woman in the history of the universe. She almost killed me. Literally.”

  Carter’s eyebrows shot straight to his hairline. “Now that’s a story.”

  Anthony related the tale, with the only interruptions being fans wanting Carter’s autograph or a photo with him. Eventually, Anthony began to scowl at anyone stupid enough to approach their table. They could wait until he’d finished talking, dammit.

  “She was the craziest woman I’ve ever met,” he said, now on his fourth beer. “She thinks eating meat is evil. She almost got herself killed trying to save a rabbit. A motherfucking rabbit. Who does that? And then she has all these notebooks of her artwork that she refuses to let anyone else see. Again, who does that?”

  Carter’s lip twitched. “She sounds interesting,” was his rather deadpan reply.

  “Interesting? I should’ve pushed her into the creek when I had the chance.”

  His words were halfhearted, though. He thought of their kiss in the hallway, how she’d melted in his arms, moaned his name. How free she was with her affection, and how she blossomed like a flower in the sunshine with physical touch. He thought of how she laughed, how she talked to Sneaky the rabbit like it could understand her. Mostly he could still feel the shape of her as she’d perched on his lap, and how she’d come under his hand without an ounce of inhibition.

  “So you really helped her save that rabbit?” Carter eyed him, an odd expression on his face. “You, Anthony Bertram, who doesn’t care about anything but money and himself?”

  “I told you: she would’ve drowned or broken her neck if I hadn’t.”

  “She sounds smart enough to figure it out on her own.” Carter sipped his own drink in a thoughtful silence.

  Irritated at his friend’s smug smile, Anthony muttered, “Just fucking say it, man.”

  “I don’t have anything to say.”

  “Bullshit. You have the most to say of anyone I’ve ever met besides Thea herself.”

  “Well, it’s been, what, two weeks since you got back from this trip? And I’ve never known you to think about any one woman longer than it takes you to get her home and get into her pants.”

  “Pot, meet kettle,” said Anthony dryly.

  Carter held up his hands, laughing. “I’m not judging you. I’m just making an observation—”

  “Somehow I doubt that’s all this is.”

  “An observation that you can’t stop talking about this woman, and the fact that she irritated you this much means she got under your skin.” Carter smiled so widely that Anthony wanted to punch him in the face. “You like her, don’t you?”

  “Just because I wanted to fuck her doesn’t mean I liked her.”

  “But you didn’t fuck her. You said it yourself.”

  “Okay, so what? It just means I need to get her out of my system. I didn’t get what I wanted, and I still want it.”

  Carter frowned. “Maybe. But if you just want sex, you could find lots of other women to fill that hole.” He chuckled at his dirty pun.

  Anthony stared down at his beer, surprised that he only had a little bit left of this one. He’d never been a huge drinker, at least not to the point of getting drunk, but tonight apparently all bets were off. He was talking to Carter like they were teenage girls in a romcom and he was chugging down beer like it was water from a desert oasis. What the hell was wrong with him?

  He curled his fingers into a fist. Thea. It was all her fault.

  Maybe he’d already come up with his own answer to the problem: he just needed to fuck her properly. He’d scratch the itch, and then he’d move on. She’d only be another name on a long list—nothing more, nothing less.

  “Look, I’m hardly the best guy to give advice on love and shit,” said Carter, “but I saw how you were after the Elise thing. I know you like to act like you’re some heartless bastard, but nobody is really heartless, least of all you.”

  “Since when did you turn into Oprah?” said Anthony, asperity dripping from his voice.

  “Maybe since I injured my shoulder and everything I thought was going to happen didn’t. Maybe I’m drunk.” Carter leaned forward until only a few inches separated the two men.

  “But maybe meeting this woman has shown you that maybe you don’t really want a shallow bitch like Elise. Maybe you actually do like her. Maybe you actually have feelings.” Carter chuckled; he must be drunk, too.

  Anthony stared at his friend, thinking over Carter’s words, before he put his hand on Carter’s forehead and pushed him away.

  “I’m not nearly drunk enough to listen to this,” said Anthony. He finished off his beer and waved at their waitress. “So let me get drunk first before you start reciting sonnets and crying over romance novels.”

  Carter just laughed. Then another group of girls recognized him and effectively distracted Carter long enough for Anthony to get his thoughts back in order.

  But Carter’s words stuck in his brain no matter how much he wanted to ignore them. It irritated him that his friend was probably right. Anthony wasn’t particularly fond of people pointing out his mistakes. It made him seem weak and foolish.

  After the latest group of fans departed, Anthony asked, “What’s new with you?”

  “You’re changing the subject, but I’ll let you. For now.” Carter’s usual easy grin faded. “Nothing much to tell. My PT isn’t sure my shoulder will be healed enough for me to return in the fall.”

  Anthony grimaced. “Shit, I didn’t know. It’s that bad?”

  “Apparently. I�
�m not about to get benched again, but if my PT won’t sign off on me returning, there’s not much I can do.”

  Anthony knew very well that without baseball, Carter was lost. He’d been playing for most of his life, and when he’d signed with the pros, it had been a dream come true. Carter had become the player that he’d always said he would be, but if he could no longer play…

  “I thought we were getting drinks to relax, not talk about our sad, pathetic lives,” said Anthony. He tried to make it sound like a joke, but between his own confusion around Thea and Carter’s glum expression, neither man ended up laughing.

  After that, Anthony stuck with topics that weren’t as depressing. It helped that they kept the drinks flowing. When a previous group of fans returned, Carter invited them to sit with them, which lightened the mood considerably. Although most of the women focused their attentions on Carter, a brunette with curves for days set her sights on Anthony.

  “I know you,” she said, her voice like liquid honey. She pushed her hair over her shoulder, and it gleamed in the low light. “You’re that businessman, aren’t you?”

  He took in the brunette. Her breasts were on full display in her ridiculously tight blouse. Normally, Anthony would’ve taken her up on her obvious invitation. But tonight, he found himself bored by her. And that rankled him more than anything else that night.

  I’m not going to let Thea control me like this, he vowed. I’ll never let any woman sink her claws into me again.

  Anthony shot the brunette a seductive smile. “You’re not interested in Carter Roberts’s illustrious autograph?”

  The brunette smiled, her white teeth flashing. Leaning toward Anthony, her breasts brushing his arm, she whispered, “I have a confession: I don’t care about baseball.”

  Anthony whispered back, “Neither do I.”

  She giggled. She smelled like roses, all sweetness and femininity. When she touched his arm with light fingers, his body responded. He considered taking her home with him, yet the prospect didn’t excite him. It was such a depressing thought that he finished his last drink, paid for his check, and told Carter he was heading out.